Amazed
by Aldara Gaea
Summary: James has been in love with Lily since the first time he saw her but Lily thinks he's the lowest piece of scum that crawled out from under a rock. How on earth could this turn into the strongest love ever? You'll be amazed. Name changed, but not the story
1. What's your name?

_A/N - So, here's that Lily and James fic I promised. This chapter should be familiar to some of you (its from my songfic of the same name) but it's changed a little, so check it out anywho. Next chapter coming up shortly._

_I don't own Lily and James, or most of the characters in this fic - they belong to JK Rowling. If there's a character who sounds unfamiliar, then they're my own creation. Enjoy!_

* * *

**What's your name??**

James sat on the muggle underground with Sirius in London. Muggles surrounded them on all sides, crammed like sardines in the tiny carriage. Again they stopped and the doors snapped open to admit even more passengers into the already congested car. Sirius was staying at James's house for a couple of weeks to wait to get that special letter that would inform them that they'd be attending Hogwarts.

The two boys had been friends ever since they met each other at their primary school - a wizard run school that taught the same subjects as a muggle school, with some differences of course. They were the most popular guys in the class, and were, naturally, always up to mischief. So much so that their teacher had given up on even yelling at them and just kept them on permanent detention in their lunch breaks.

James mentally laughed, remembering what their teacher had told them on their last day.

"You'll get no such leniency at Hogwarts," she had said sternly. "What I wouldn't give to see the kind of punishments Filch will think up for you!" She was a young woman, only just graduated from Hogwarts a year or two ago.

Sirius' voice broke him out of his reverie.

"Look at her James, mate! Over to your left," Sirius said in a hushed voice. "She just got on with a whole bunch of girls."

James looked to where his friend was indicating and his eye was instantly caught on a sweet red haired girl around their age. One of her friends must have said something very funny because at the moment he saw her she was laughing heartily. He noticed the way her eyes sparkled, the corners of her mouth turned up just enough to reveal a set of straight dazzling white teeth and a pair of perfect dimples in her cheeks.

Sirius was saying something but James didn't understand a word.

"She's beautiful." he said with awe, and then there was a sudden throbbing pain in his arm.

"OW!" he yelled out. Sirius guffawed.

"What on Merlins beard was THAT for?" he demanded. Sirius shrugged.

"Had to bring you back somehow," he replied. "Back to what I was saying - isn't her hair the best colour you've ever seen?" James nodded numbly.

"Like curls of fire," he managed to say. Sirius quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

"No… it's straight and blonde you dolt."

"Huh??" James scanned the group and he spotted a tall blonde girl. She was very attractive and looked older than the others, just the kinda girl Sirius would go for.

"Yeah, she's ok," he said with a shrug and went back to staring at the girl with the auburn curls.

Every second he looked at her he fell more in love with her. It was an emotion that was completely new to him, and he didn't even know it was what that funny feeling in his stomach was, but James Potter fell in love that very instant he laid eyes on the pretty girl.

Sirius poked him painfully in the side and waved his hand in front of James' face.

"It's our stop next mate," he said and grimaced. "Stop drooling."

"I'm going to introduce myself to her Sirius," James told him with a slur. "I've gotta know what her name is."

The train came to a jerking halt and half the crowd stood to leave. James jumped up fast as he could but he lost sight of her. He stood on the seat and searched the crowd, but she was gone, out of his reach.

"C'mon, we better get off before it starts moving again," said Sirius impatiently.

"But, what if she's still on here? I have to find her Sirius." Sirius just rolled his eyes.

"Forget it mate, she's just a girl."

James shook his head as they ran out the doors and up the stairs onto the street.

"No, she's an angel." he murmured.

Wondering around the muggle streets a couple of days later, James still could not get the image of that girl out of his head. He was with Sirius again and they were hanging around in the arcade at the mall where they were amusing themselves with trying to figure out how to play each of the muggle pinball machines and computer games.

Sirius had yet again doubled James' score half-way through his turn while his friend stared out the front window of the store. James replayed again exactly what he would do if he saw her again. He'd walk right up to her and tell her she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen in his life. Then he'd give her a super dose of the 'Potter Charm' and very sweetly ask her what her name was. It was foolproof.

Sirius jumped up and whooped.

"That's the fourth time I tripled your score mate!" he cried triumphantly. "I'm running aces around you today!"

James nearly fell over. There she was. He couldn't believe it! Sure he'd thought of seeing her again but he didn't seriously believe he really would. His eyes bugged out as he stared at her. It had to be her; there was no way that kind of beauty could be duplicated that perfectly.

"Earth to James, earth to James – come in please," called Sirius, his hand waving furiously in front of James' eyes.

"I-its her!" he managed to choke out.

"Who?"

James only pointed and Sirius looked where he was indicating. With a guffaw he slapped James on the back.

"The chick off the underground the other day?"

James nodded numbly. He took a deep breath and stood up straight.

"I'm gonna talk to her this time Sirius."

He walked toward the door, his step turning unconsciously to a strut. An older group of rowdy muggle boys shoved past him almost knocking him off his feet. He growled and regained his composure, then looked around to make sure she hadn't seen that - he didn't want her to think he was a wimp. But she was no where to be seen.

"What?" he yelled and looked around frantically. Again she'd disappeared without a trace.

He stalked back into the arcade and slumped down on a stool next to Sirius, who was now playing a computer game.

"She reject ya mate?" Sirius asked with mock sympathy. James grumbled.

"No," he replied tersely. "She disappeared before I got to her."

Sirius chuckled and accidentally made the little man on the screen jump onto a spiky monster.

"Aw man! I didn't even get past the first level!"

James rolled his eyes. Sirius was a great friend, but he tended to be just a little self-centred. He did however, seem to realise that his mate was out of sorts.

"Look, I said it before," he told James, "just forget her. You were lucky you saw her twice… I'll be really surprised if you ever see her again." He gave James a slap on the back. "What do ya say we go to the Beach Street pool tomorrow and find some group of girls in bathers to take your mind off her?"

James laughed appreciatively and shoved Sirius with his shoulder.

"C'mon, you've had your fair share of winning these cumpitor game thingies, move over and let me show you how it's really done!"

Mrs Potter dropped James and a couple of friends off at the pool the next day. Apart from Sirius, James had no other close friends. He was, however, good with friends with a couple of other guys from down his street - Paul Hobbs and Garry Lamiae. They had practically grown up together and he hadn't objected too strongly when his mum suggested he invite them to go with them, particularly seeing as he wasn't going to see them much while he was at Hogwarts.

"You boys have fun!" Mrs Potter called out as they jumped out of the car. "And don't you break too many hearts Sirius love, or there'll be no girls left when you actually want them to like you!"

The boys all laughed and tumbled their stuff out of the car. Mrs Potter gave them all a last wave goodbye and drove back onto the road. As James watched the car pulled away he noticed a flick of red hair in the corner of his eye. He searched the cars nearby and found what he was looking for. It was her again!

"Sirius!" he said and looked beside him but his friends weren't there. Glancing around, he found them nearly at the entrance to the pool.

"Hurry up James!" Paul called over his shoulder.

James looked back at the car the girl was in. Again she was with her friends. She had a green one piece swim suit on with a sarong tied loosely around her hips. Her skin was pale and he could see the bright sun flashing off the water droplets that covered her body.

"JAMES!" his friends called.

He gave a huge sigh and reluctantly turned back and jogged to the pool and his friends. Throwing one last glance over his shoulder watched her as the car was driving away, then he paid his entry. But no matter what the boys tried they could not get him to really join in with their games and competitions all afternoon.

All he could think about was how that girl with the auburn curls had got away from him again. In fact, how did she turn up being in the exact same place as him three times? Not that he objected, but even to him it seemed strange. In the midst of his thoughts, James suddenly found himself climbing the ladder to the high board. He looked down and saw the others wading next to it and realised he must've just accepted a dare of some kind.

He laughed and continued climbing. Trust them to take advantage of his state of mind to get him to do something stupid. At the top he stood on the board and looked at the water 20 feet below. He could hear Sirius, Paul and Garry jeering at him from below and he grinned. Bouncing a couple of times, he jumped off and speared towards the rippling surface, sliding into the water like a king fisher.

The looks on Paul and Garry's faces were priceless. Because they were muggles, they knew nothing about James' passion for flying on a broom… or of his particular skill at diving.

"That was ruddy brilliant James," Garry shouted and clouted him on the back.

James just shrugged.

"It would've been better if I knew that girl's name."

They just rolled their eyes.

"You're bordering on obsessed James," Sirius told him with a grin. "Look! There's a whole group of gorgeous girls just waiting for us to talk to them."

James grinned and waded a while as he watched his friends swim over to the side of the pool where the group was sitting.

"But they're not her."

The next day James and Sirius finally got their long awaited letter. They had decided that they were going to stay home that day so they slept in late. Sirius was still sleeping when the owls arrived a little before noon. James had just started his breakfast when a tapping on the kitchen window alerted him to two tawny owls sitting on the windowsill.

"Oh Merlin's long grey beard!" he said, food forgotten.

He was so excited that when Pixy, their house elf, brought the letters to him he snatched them up and ran up the stairs to his friend's room.

"They're here Sirius!" he yelled, jumping onto the bed. "Our Hogwarts letters arrived!"

Sirius groaned and made to smack James in the head.

"Let me sleep you bloody hippogriff," he grumbled.

James shoved a heavy parchment envelope under his nose and impatiently began to rip his own open, barely taking in the flowing green script that declared it as addressed to him. Once Sirius was awake enough to realise what was going on, his enthusiasm wasn't much less than his best mate's.

"YES!" James whooped loudly after a quick glance at the letter. "Hogwarts - HERE I COME!"

Sirius chuckled.

"Those other kids better watch out - James and Sirius are in town!" he let out a bark like laugh. "No stopping us now, mate. No secret will be safe from us!" James nodded fervently with a huge grin.

"We'd better go tell mum."

Mrs Potter was hardly less delighted than the boys.

"That's excellent!" she cried as she gave them both a big hug. "We'll have to make a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow so we can pick up your gear. And don't you worry Sirius dear, we'll pay for your things and your mother can pay us back later."

"Thanks Liz, but I have my own vault that my parents set up for me when I was born," he shifted his feet awkwardly. "And I don't think my mum would ever pay you back if you did that for me anyway…" he continued to look embarrassed but Mrs Potter waved away the remark with a laugh.

"It would have been no trouble at all anyway, dear," she told him "Now you two hand me your school lists so you don't lose them before we need them!"

At Diagon Alley, Sirius and James walked around in tow with Mrs Potter for most of the morning. She insisted that their time would be better spent seeing what they needed for school and where to get it all instead of drooling over the latest model of Comet brooms. They had their school robes fitted and lugged around their shopping while Mrs Potter tried to negotiate their way through the crowds of witches and wizards.

Finally, they sat down to have a rest at the new ice-creamery Floreen Fortescue's. The boys, grateful for the respite, dumped their bags down on a spare seat and enjoyed their sundaes. When they were finished, Mrs Potter clapped her hands.

"So," she said brightly, "we just have to get you boys a wand and you're all set. How about we go down to Ollivander's and do that and then you can have the rest of the afternoon to wander." James and Sirius jumped out of their seats and were half-way down the street before she could catch up with them.

"Slow down boys, getting a wand isn't that exciting," she called to them with a chuckle.

Ollivander's was a rickety old building at the very end of the winding alley. The black paint was cracked and the gold letters over the door were peeling at the edges. When they entered the store a tinkling bell trilled distantly and an uneasy quiet fell over them. James felt like the air was tingling with a mysterious kind of apprehension, like it was alive with magic and the unknown.

"Good afternoon," a voice came from the gloom of a corner door to the back of the store. The speaker was Mr Ollivander, the greatest wand maker on the continent.

"Ah… Elizabeth Selbourne – Potter I should say. So nice to see you again," his tone spoke of wells of memory. "One of these fine young men is your son I presume?"

Mrs Potter nodded with a small smile, as if she was in on some joke.

"This is my son James, and his friend Sirius Black," she told him pleasantly, indicating to each in turn. Mr Ollivander nodded formally to them.

"If one of you would like to step forward, I'll just get your measurements…"

When James finally had his wand, he stood by the grimy window and looked out into the busy alley to wait while his friend went through the same process of waving wands to find his own. He noticed that there were lots of kids outside, all shopping for their school supplies like them. Many of them would be class mates soon and James looked into the faces with a large grin on his face. He wanted to make sure that by the end of the year there wouldn't be one of them that didn't know who James Potter was.

"Where are we going first?" came Sirius' question suddenly from beside him. James snapped his head around to face his mate.

"Quidditch Supplies of course!!" he said enthusiastically and handed his bags to his mum. "Race you there!" and with that he took off out the door.

Sirius hurried to follow suit and just heard Mrs Potter shout out to them.

"Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron before dark!"

James reached the store and came to a skidding halt puffing. He bent over and tried to catch his breath, and was tackled by Sirius. They landed with a thud on top of another boy their own age who had been standing behind James.

"Gerroff me you git!" James cried to his friend and struggled his way out of the tangle of arms and legs.

Sirius too got up and brushed himself off, hardly seeming to notice the poor boy they had squashed. He had sandy brown hair and pale grey eyes and was skinny to the point of looking sickly. James rushed to help him up.

"Sorry about that mate," he apologised with a pointedly irritated look at his friend, which was ignored. The boy shook his head slowly.

"It-it's alright," he wheezed, still a little out of breath.

James took his hand and shook it companionably.

"James Potter," he said pleasantly, "and the oaf over there is my best mate, Sirius Black." Sirius raised his hand in a lazy kind of wave.

"Nice to meet you both," the boy replied, "I'm Remus Lupin."

James smiled. "You shopping for school too?" Remus nodded. "Sirius and I just finished," he looked at his friend and noticed he was looking over James' shoulder with an unbelieving look on his face, which soon turned to a smug grin. "What are you smiling at now, you goof?"

Sirius just pointed and James turned. There, across the street, stood a petite girl with curly auburn hair. James' jaw dropped and he felt his heart skip a beat. She was standing next to the arch to the Leaky Cauldron uncertainly, looking this way and that like she was completely lost.

"I don't believe it," he half whispered.

Remus and Sirius snickered. Sirius explained to their new friend what had happened in the last couple of weeks and they soon began arguing over what they thought he should do next. James, of course, was oblivious to this and his eyes were transfixed. Suddenly Sirius gave him a shove.

"If you're gonna talk to her, get it over and done with will you?" he said. "We don't have all day to wait while you gape like a fish."

James shook the shock out of his head. Act cool, he thought and he made his way across the alley. People were bustling all around him and he bumped into quite a few of them to get past, but he hardly noticed. She was still standing there and she seemed too scared to move into the crowd or to ask for directions. She had to be muggle born, there was no way she could be a witch and not have been to Diagon Alley at least once.

Finally, he reached her. She was looking the other way so she didn't notice him until he spoke.

"Hello, I'm James Potter," he said to her. "What's your name?"

The girl jumped and faced him anxiously. He noticed that her eyes were emerald green and her cheeks had reddened with embarrassment. Her eyes suddenly hardened and she lifted her head with a little more confidence.

"Hello," she said. James smiled at her warmly.

"So… is this your first time in Diagon Alley?" he asked kindly.

She nodded shyly. "Everything here is so strange."

James chuckled. "It's alright once you're used to it." he paused. "You're a muggle born, right?"

The girl gave him a funny look and quirked one eyebrow at him.

"What's that?"

"Er… I guess that answers my question," he said and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up at the front. "In the wizarding world, we call people who aren't magic 'muggles'," he explained. The girl nodded slowly and looked around the street again.

"Do you need some help with your shopping?" he asked her in a rush. "My friend and I have just finished and we were going to help a dude we just met with his shopping, so…" he trailed off and ruffled his hair again. The girl grinned.

"No thank-you," she replied and looked up the alley again, "Someone's coming to help me." James nodded and looked down at his feet, trying to think of what else to say.

"Err… you - Did you know that you're really pretty?" he asked in a gush. The girl giggled and blushed but didn't reply.

James was at a loss - what was he supposed to say now? He looked back across the street to see Sirius and Remus snickering. James rolled his eyes.

"Bloody git," he muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" the girl asked. James jumped slightly.

"Not you!" he half shouted, "no… my friends are being – stupid… is all." He cocked his head in their direction and she looked over at them when something else caught her attention.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Hagrid's finally here!"

James followed her line of sight and spotted a very large man towering above the rest of the crowd. He waded his way over to them and smiled down at the pair.

"Sorry I'm late," he rumbled, "I 'ad some business to atten' ter."

"That's alright," the red head replied with a smile. "I was just making friends."

The giant called Hagrid looked at James and smiled warmly.

"Than' yeh fer tha'," he said.

"It was a pleasure," James replied with a winsome smile. Hagrid chuckled.

"Well, we'd bes' be off then."

The girl nodded and smiled at James.

"Thank you for talking to me," she said sweetly and turned to follow her oversized guide. James nearly panicked.

"Wait!" he called. "What's your name!?"

The girl turned and gave him a wide cheeky grin.

"Lily Evans!"

James smiled and walked back to his friends in a daze. Her voice was echoing in his head like a song. Lily Evans, Lily Evans, Lily Evans.


	2. Fast Forward

_**And that, my friends, was Lily's first encounter with the illustrious James Potter. At the time, she thought he was sweet, charming, witty and highly attractive… and we know she wasn't wrong. There may be some plausibility to the saying that 'first impressions don't lie' in this case, though it was years until our lovely red-haired heroine discovered that for herself.**_

_**When the time came to board the train at Platform 9 ¾, Lily quickly made friends with Alice Perry, Katie Reaves and Hilary Potter – James' twin sister and Katie's best friend who, consequently, had been staying at Katie's place when she received her Hogwarts letter. In particular, Alice and Lily really hit it off, and by the end of the train ride to Hogwarts, they were acting like they were oldest of friends. Strangely enough, she was also seen to be on very friendly terms with a small, skinny boy with greasy black hair who the other girls pretty much ignored.**_

_**James and Sirius found Remus again and the three of them eventually ringed in a poor kid by the name of Peter Pettigrew, on whom James had pity when he found a swarthy looking second year boy bullying him and decided to take him under his wing. As you can guess, Lily's greasy haired friend was Severus Snape and as soon as James had laid eyes on him, trying to convince a teary Lily that Slytherin was the best house, he'd known that he'd found a lifelong enemy.**_

_**Their first year at Hogwarts was highly educational to all. James and Sirius were tremendously popular and were soon on their way to become known as the most infamous pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen. Lily's initial opinion of James had quickly deteriorated after that first day on the train as she saw more and more of his apparently flippant attitude towards the feelings of others, especially her friend Severus. James' friend Remus, however soon became a fast companion to Lily and they could often be found studying together.**_

_**In their second year, James' resolution that everyone would know him was truly fulfilled when he was accepted as Chaser in the Gryffindor Quidditch team – having tried for position of Seeker, but beaten narrowly by an older student. Rather than let his obvious talents lie dormant by making him a sub, the team captain encouraged him to stay for Chaser trials, through which he breezed easily to get a position.**_

_**Lily didn't think that his cocky manners could worsen… but worsen they did. He took to strutting around the castle with a moving broom badge, complete with a miniature of himself, on his puffed-out chest. The girls in the hall would twitter and whisper behind their hands as he and Sirius walked past, often with an embarrassed but amused Remus beside them and adoring Peter in tow. Because of the numerous pranks they immersed themselves in; the group of boys took to referring to themselves as 'The Marauders' which was quickly adopted by the student body. **_

_**Lily, by and large, avoided seeing him whenever possible and stuck like glue to her friends. She still maintained a strong friendship with Remus and it was she who initially discovered his dark secret. As far as Remus was concerned, she was the only student who knew this but his friends, being the sharp witted boys they were, came to the very same conclusion not long after Lily… and ensured that no other bright spark might undo Remus' obviously fragile confidence. Lily's unlikely relationship with Severus Snape remained strong too. Despite the fact that he was in Slytherin, and had begun associating with a sinister group of older boys of whom she did not approve, Lily determinedly stuck up for her friend whenever she could, particularly if it was the Marauders he was having trouble with.**_

_**By their third year James, much to the chagrin of the lovely lady, realized that he, in fact, loved Lily Evans. James and Sirius also began to discover some of the castle's more secret passageways and shortcuts, which led to the creation of the first draft of the Marauders Map and the exposure of the other Marauders' knowledge of where Remus went every month. After the initial fear that his friends would, or even should, abandon him and leave him friendless, Remus was truly grateful for such amazing friends.**_

_**Lily, however, seemed less than convinced. The creation of the Map, though she didn't know it, made it even harder for Lily to avoid James, as he started to pop up, seemingly, out of nowhere. To heighten her resentment against him James started asking Lily to go on dates to Hogsmead with him, which she flatly refused every time. To her chagrin, the same advantage that gave James the ability to show up in her vicinity at any time made it even easier than ever for him to bully her friend Severus. This annoyed Lily to no end, even though Severus had begun to avoid her whenever his other friends were around and had even asked her not to stand up for her as often.**_

_**Many where shocked to realize that, by the time fourth year arrived, neither James nor Lily had yet had a steady girl/boyfriend. Although girls seemed to flock to the popular, charming and witty young James, he merely flicked aside their avid attentions in an almost contemptuous manner. Only a select few got anything much more than several hasty and passionate snogging sessions behind tapestries, which James shrugged off to his friends as simply keeping in practice for when 'his flower' eventually came around. **_

_**Lily, too, seemed to be a favourite with the boys, but no one ever seemed to manage getting to the point of asking her out to more than a first date. While there was no solid evidence to support it, and even Remus wouldn't give a hint as to how accurate she was, Lily suspected that James played a prominent part in the sudden lack of interest that each young man showed. The fact of the matter was, that it was just as likely that Lily's (increasingly secret) friend Severus was at the head of these problems, though she flatly refused to even think that the ugly state many boys were left in could possibly be the work of her 'best friend'.**_

_**Sirius and James started concocting an idea of how they might support Remus with his "Furry Little Problem", as they had nicknamed it and they both vehemently continued to torment Severus Snape, whom they'd nicknamed affectionately, or rather decidedly not so, 'Snivellous' in their first year.**_

_**But it is in their fifth year that I endeavour to continue their interesting and rather involved love story. In this year, James reached the ultimate peak of his arrogance and Lily started to notice just how difficult it was for her to ignore the attentions of the irritating 'Pot Head', as she privately named him. For, though he was annoying to the extreme, the romantic behaviours of the handsome and popular young man were also terrifyingly flattering. And, as her hold on the slippery Severus was quickly loosening, she began to wonder who was really in the right. This is their story… **_


	3. A New Year

_A/N - Thanks to those who've reviewed so far! Sorry I left you with so little to go by, but the document was having trouble uploading properly for a while so I wasn't able to update. This is only a short chapter, but I think it sets the mood of the whole story really well - Enjoy!_

* * *

**A New Year**

Lily was sitting quietly on her bed. Her trunk was packed, her new kitten curled peacefully in her lap and she was dressed in comfortable clothes; she was ready to leave for another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But was she ready? She sighed and gently slid Muffy onto the bed and walked over to her full length mirror.

In front of her she saw a short, petite girl of fifteen. Her wavy crimson locks splashed wildly over her shoulders like lava, and her piercing emerald eyes stared back at her intensely. A small smile touched her bow like mouth and she put her hands up to fiddle with her hair. Potter was always reaching out to play with her hair – like a little boy who still hadn't learned that fire burns…

Lily snorted. _Shows how thick he is,_ she thought, _he's been 'burnt' every time. _Her hand dropped and she grimaced; this was the reason she was reluctant to return to her beloved school; it was not that she wasn't ready, or that she didn't like going to school. She was actually looking forward to this year even more than usual, having found a gold badge inscribed with a 'P' in her last Hogwarts letter which meant that she had made Prefect. Oh no, it wasn't that that was bothering her, it was… him.

James Potter – the most popular, handsome and sought after guy at Hogwarts. _He is also the most arrogant and pigheaded person I've ever met,_ she reminded herself quickly.

Again, Lily sighed. She'd just have to deal with Potter when she saw him, which she sincerely hoped was in the very distant future. Gathering Muffy into her arms, she firmly put him out of her mind. Soon she would be with her friends – that was one thing that she could look forward to.

"Dad," she called, walking slowly downstairs. "I'm ready to go, is Severus here yet?"

"James!!"

James rolled over in his bed and groaned.

"James Harold Potter!! Get out of bed this INSTANT!"

The door to the room flew open and James grumbled loudly as the curtains in his room were ripped open and the light flooded under his eyelids. He grabbed the pillow from under his head and shoved it on top of his face in an attempt to block out both the light and the voice of his twin sister. But to no avail.

"NO!" she screeched and James felt her jump on his bed. "You have to get up NOW or we'll miss the train!"

The body on his stomach was now pummelling into his chest. In an attempt to get a response out of him, she bounced up and down too.

"Whoomph…" James struggled to take a breath; hindered by the combination of the weight on his chest and the pillow blocking his airway. "Ay gaaaan beeph Heearwy…"

The pillow was whipped off his face and he took as deep a breath as the continued pressure on his rib cage would allow. Slowly, the stars faded from his sight and he could clearly see the dark haired 15 year old girl who was restraining him.

"I could so pummel you right now."

Their mother walked past James' door and shook her head, grey curls bouncing, with a chuckle.

"Hilary – get off your brother," she commanded calmly, "and James," she smiled fondly at her son, "be ready to leave in an hour and a half, won't you love?"

Hilary scrambled off her brother obediently and James groaned as he sat up, rubbing his chest. His sister grinned wickedly at him and poked out her tongue, before waltzing out of the room with a smirk. James slowly got up and looked around his room. It was only a little messy and his already packed trunk stood in the corner, all thanks to the family house elf Pixy.

He opened his cupboard to get some clean clothes and caught sight of his bare torso reflected in the mirror. With a smirk, he flexed his muscles and watched with satisfaction as they rippled smoothly. _You're irresistible mate, _he thought smugly, changing his stance, _there's no girl immune to your charm, your wit, your sexiness, your... _

He paused as the image of a certain red-haired girl surfaced to the top of his mind. Unconsciously, his hand flew to his matted hair and ruffled it; the fluttering need to impress her jumping into his stomach. There was one girl who was not only immune, but impervious to him.

Lily Evans – the smartest, most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. James grinned wolfishly at his reflection and resumed admiring his contracting muscles. _And this year she will be mine! _

Of course, James thought this every year… but it was bound to come true eventually, wasn't it? James merely shrugged and pulled on the first shirt and pair of jeans he could find in his cupboard, both of which were fashionably ripped. He didn't really care what he wore – he made anything look good.

"Look out Hogwarts;" he told his reflection, "James is back in the house!"


	4. Who needs enemies?

_A/N - Well, I don't really have much to say, other than to thank those who are reading this story. A special batch of luffin for everyone who's reviewed - if you like this story then please do!! I know I'm updating kinda regularly, but don't expect too much as often, I need to catch up in the writing a little before I post again. Enjoy it!_

* * *

**Who needs enemies? **

The smoke belching from the train settled low over the jostling crowd on Platform 9 ¾ in mystical wafts. Lily wound her way through the throng, little Muffy curled up close to her neck on her shoulder as she pushed her trunk on its trolley and Severus slouching over his trolley by her side. Faces faded in and out of focus in the smog and, before long, a group of Slytherin students, already in their black robes, could be seen. Severus looked up at Lily regretfully.

"So we'll meet at the Owlery on the first Saturday at 12?" he asked, his silky voice low. Lily nodded reassuringly.

"Do we really have to do this, Sev? I don't see why we should sneak around to see each other like we're ashamed that we're best friends," she glared at the group of Slytherins, who hadn't spotted them yet, with obvious distaste.

Severus put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. "You don't know what they'd do to me, or you, if they thought I was best friends with a Mu…" he paused a moment and Lily raised her eyebrows archly, "muggle-born. I'd be quite happy to take what they'd give me but what they could do to you… well I can't let that happen."

Lily nodded slowly and suddenly pulled him into a brief hug.

"Have a great week, Sev," she murmured, then quickly let go and continued up the train with her trolley. As she sauntered past the group of Slytherins, she gave them a contemptuous look, which was returned by a seventh year girl with lustrous black hair and dark hooded eyes.

Finally, she reached the train car she was looking for – the third from the back – where she and her friends had a compartment that they sat in every year. She'd first met them in that very same compartment in their first year, after she and Severus had run away from the bullying young Marauders.

Lily lifted her trunk with only a little difficulty and carted it up into the train, then dragged it into the compartment and, after settling her kitten on the seat at the far end, hauled it expertly into the luggage rack. The trunks of Alice and Hilary were already stowed there, but the girls were not in the compartment. Already knowing where she could find her friends if she needed to, Lily simply shut and locked the door so that she could change into her school robes. When she had done so, she proudly pinned her shiny gold Prefect badge to the front as a final touch.

As she admired the effect the badge made on her uniform, there came a soft knock on the door. She unlatched the lock and pushed it open to find a tall girl with short mousey brown hair and dark blue eyes facing her, smiling pleasantly.

"Katie!" exclaimed Lily, and gave her friend a warm hug. "It's so great to see you, the holidays are really too long."

"I know what you mean," agreed Katie, dragging her trunk in and smiling at her friend. She caught sight of the gold Prefect badge on her chest and squealed. "You made Prefect!" she exclaimed excitedly. "That's so rad!"

Lily grinned as Katie gave her another hug.

"Do you know who the boy Prefect for Gryffindor is?"

"I don't know yet," Lily replied, "but I have my suspicions."

Katie grinned knowingly and looked around the compartment.

"Where are the others?"

Lily shrugged and helped Katie throw her trunk into the luggage rack with the rest.

"They weren't here when I arrived," she replied, "but no doubt we'd probably find them in the Marauders' compartment."

Katie giggled at Lily's tone. The girls sat and talked cheerfully until the whistle blew and the train lurched into motion. They could hear the younger students running up and down the corridor outside as the train picked up speed.

"Do you want to go get the others now or…" she was cut off by a loud thump out in the hallway.

Lily stood to see what was wrong, but just as her hand reached the handle, the door was ripped open and two girls tumbled through in a fit of hysterical laughter, landing on top of each other on the floor. One of the girls, with long straight jet hair, attempted to sit up and was waving her hands and gasping incoherently.

"Qu-qui-quick…" she managed to say between ragged breaths, "lock th-the door bef…" the girls burst into another fit of giggles, "before they come to get us back!"

Lily locked the door and turned back to her two friends, who were still rolling on the floor trying to catch their breaths as they continued to snigger. She shook her head and helped them up and into seats, fighting with herself over whether she should berate or laugh at them.

"Alice May Perry and Hilary Jayne Potter - what have you two been up to now?" she asked, exasperated.

Alice just shook her head and continued to laugh, her bright blue eyes watering and her dirty blonde hair all over the place. Hilary still chuckled and wheezed, but she turned her hazel eyes on Lily and grinned wickedly.

"We paid the boys a visit," she answered cryptically and the two burst into laughter again.

Lily and Katie shared a there's-no-way-we're-going-to-get-anything-intelligent-out-of-them-yet look. They sat down together and waited calmly while the other two regained a small mite of their limited composure. Finally, Hilary was settled down enough to talk intelligibly.

"We just went to say hello to my dear brother and his little friends," she explained, "they weren't in their compartment yet, and Alice and I thought they might like a little happy new-school-year present."

Alice snorted.

"What she's trying to say," she took over the story, her eyes wild, "is that we…"

There was another thump in the hall and the two girls screamed with laughter again as they faintly heard the sound of the boys yelling a steady stream of curses. Their compartment door was shaken violently and Lily and Katie abandoned their senseless friends to sit at the end of the compartment furthest from the door. The boys now appeared to be beating the door with their fists.

"HILARY!" one voice shouted, "ALICE! Let us in, or I swear I'll hex you into the next century!"

Lily frowned delicately as she recognized the voice. It was Potter. The banging on the door was growing more insistent and Lily shared a worried look with Katie.

"We wouldn't let you in if you paid us Potter," Alice shouted back gleefully. "Besides, you'll only make mess in here too."

Suddenly, the door stopped shuddering. Alice and Hilary grinned evilly at each other.

"I bet you a galleon Remus was too smart to get hit," Hilary said quickly. Alice laughed.

"No way could it've missed him - you're on."

A second later, the door leapt open to reveal four bedraggled boys, covered in sickly green slime. The one to the front, whose slime covered hair stuck up resolutely at the back and could only just be recognized as black, had his wand out. Beside him stood another boy, taller and more muscular, with similarly dark and slime covered hair which was slicked to his head in clumps. Behind them was a small, mousey boy with brown hair, squinty eyes and a whimpering look on his slimy face and a taller, skinnier boy who looked so angry at the disgusting filth that covered him that his grey eyes were almost popping, slime dripping steadily from his blondish hair.

Hilary and Alice again collapsed into hysterical laughter at the site of the boys. Lily and Katie shared another exasperated look and simultaneously hid their faces in their hands. _I so do not know them…_


	5. How?

_A/N - Hehehe, I really like this chapter - James is so cute! Just in case you haven't realised yet, the story swaps back and forth between Lily's and James' points of view, but not always one chapter each. I might occasionaly go to someone random, one of the other Marauders or the girls, just for a bit of change up, but this is about Lily and James - so it'll mainly be them. Have fun with this!_

* * *

**How...?**

_I will flay them alive. _James stood in the doorway, glaring at the two girls before him who were laughing like hyenas. _I will hex them until even they won't know who the hell they are and then I'll feed them to a herd of wild hippogriffs._ A string of slime slid like a snail down the back of his neck, sending an irritated shiver up his spine.

"You… you look like…"

Sirius growled warning deep in his throat. Hilary shivered at the sound and Alice abruptly discontinued her sentence. Behind him, he could almost feel the anger radiating off Remus. James grimaced wickedly, the girls had never witnessed the wrath of Remus Lupin before – this could turn out to be interesting.

"What," James snarled dangerously, "in the name of Merlin, was that for?"

Hilary and Alice looked at him with wide eyes. In the corner, James could just see Lily and Katie, their faces hidden behind their hands. Unconsciously, his hand went to his hair… where it met with a mangled sticky mess. James snarled in disgust.

"It… it was just a… a," Hilary started, the glint returned to her eyes as she tried to catch Sirius'.

"… a _prank_?" Remus' voice squeaked with suppressed rage. "You think it's _funny _to engorge a _Mimbulus mimbletonia_ in our compartment and make it so that it squirts gallons of _sti-_" his voice jumped several octaves once more, "_-nksap_ all over us when we open the door??"

_That's it mate, let it out,_ James thought viciously, _make them think twice before they mess…_

Maniacal laughter interrupted his thoughts.

James watched as the girls again began laughing uncontrollably at the girly squeaks that had erupted from his friend's throat. Cautiously, he threw a glance at Lily; g_reat, just great._ Even she had snorted reluctantly as she tried to avert her eyes from the scene. He raised a finger threateningly.

"Now you just wait a second," his eyes narrowed, "I…"

Lily suddenly stood up and faced him, her hands on her hips and a small scowl on her pretty face. James found himself marvelling that such a terrible look could be moulded to mar such beauty.

"Put your finger down Potter," she said quietly. James found himself obeying her immediately. He stared at her and he knew his mouth was open. She rolled her eyes and James could tell she was trying to hold back a smile.

"Now," she continued, flicking her eyes over all that were in the room, "as a new Prefect for Gryffindor, I do have the right to take points from all of you..." she paused for effect and James shifted a little, "however, seeing as Remus and I are late to our meeting, I think we can spare you this once."

Closing the gap between her and the door, walking with just a slight rock to her hips that made James stare, she pulled out her wand and cleaned all the muck off Moony with a quick _Scourgify!_ and smiled at the now clean boy.

"If you will excuse us," she said superiorly, grabbing Remus by the arm and steering him firmly out the door and up the hallway.

James continued to stare after her.

"How does she do that?" he asked in amazement.

"I assume you mean something other than make you go deaf, dumb and stupid every time she's within eyesight?" Sirius replied, regaining his wits and cleaning the stink sap off himself and Peter. James still hadn't moved.

"No one said anything about Remus making Prefect - how does she KNOW these things?"


	6. Enthralling

_A/N - Yes, I know it's been a while since I updated; that's why I'm here now!! Just incase you didn't realise, I've changed the name of this fic because I the name fitted another fic that I'm working on right now... but it's the same story!! You'll have to be patient with waiting for updates though... I'm in my final year at school and I'm just a little busy with all the assessment and exams so I don't have very much time to write at the moment. Hope you like it!_

* * *

**Enthralling**

After the quick Prefect meeting, Lily and Remus patrolled the halls of the end few train cars together. Apart from a few nervous and friendless first years and a small mishap involving a deck of exploding snap cards and a disgruntled cat, the hour or so was uneventful, leaving the two to talk companionably.

When the train came to a halt at Hogsmead Station, they joined their friends, grabbing their stuff (Lily tucking her sleeping kitten into a basket) and taking a black coach up to the school. The coach was crowded, due to the fact that it was carrying eight students, and Lily, much to her annoyance, ended up squashed in the far corner with James.

Finally, they arrived at the castle and the others slowly unpacked themselves from the black carriage. Lily sat patiently waiting, highly aware that James had hardly come more unstuck from her side, despite the growing amount of vacant space on the seat. When there was enough room the two stood up, almost simultaneously, and Lily hung back to allow herself to breath once more.

As she made her way carefully down the step onto the driveway she paused, her eyes fixed on the splendid castle she had called home for four years. She was so transfixed, as she was every year, that she hardly registered the hand that took hers to help her to the ground.

"It's so beautiful," she said to herself quietly. The hand twitched.

"Beautiful is the word," a deep voice agreed.

With a jolt, Lily looked away from the glittering windows and straight into the face of a smugly grinning James.

"Urgh," she exclaimed, snatching her hand back like he was a leper, "what do you want Potter?"

The self-satisfied smile slipped off his face, but it was quickly replaced by a charming grin. Pretending not to notice, Lily took the opportunity to stalk her way to the steps. With a shrug, James followed after her.

"Of course, you already know what I want Evans – I don't see why you insist on asking me to repeat it every second."

Lily sighed. _Why does he have to be so conceited?_ She continued to stomp up the stairs and into the huge Entrance Hall. _He's just so full of himself that he can't see how much of a jerk he really is. If only I could wipe that… _

Suddenly, he grabbed her arm and held her back. With an angry glare, Lily ripped her arm free again.

"What now?"

James pointed into the air, two metres ahead of them and Lily followed his finger. There, hovering near the ceiling was Peeves, a water bomb in one hand and a small bag of flour in the other. A couple of second year students, impatient to get to the feast, hurried around them and Lily watched as they were suddenly coated in a sticky mess of wet flour.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?" he asked self-righteously.

"Just leave me alone, Potter – don't you have some immature prank to play with your little friends?" she replied a little scathingly and, again taking advantage of his shock at her rudeness, stalked away to sit with her friends at the Gryffindor table.

James stared after her retreating figure, and shook his head in bewilderment. _A mystery,_ he thought as he quickly helped the forlorn looking second years clean off the gluey paste that was slowly drying. Then, after threatening to tell the Bloody Baron if Peeves did anything else to ruin the students' first night back to school, he slowly made his way to join his friends. He had realised a couple of years ago that he got a better following from the younger students if he made an effort to stick up for them once in a while… which he did strictly when his friends weren't around.

When he finally reached the Gryffindor table, Sirius was chortling about something with Remus and Peter was on the opposite side, staring off into space as usual. James sat down next to him in silence – and they all looked at him immediately.

"What?" he asked as all three of them stared at him warily.

"Is there something wrong?" Remus asked bluntly.

James raised his eyebrows. "Of course not, why?"

"Well, we know you were walking in with Lily, but she came in fifteen minutes ago – and she looked a little angry and…" Professor McGonagall appeared at the back of the hall and strode in with the new first years at that point, so Remus finished with a shrug.

James shook his head and gave his friends a reassuringly mocking grin before they all turned their attention to the group of new students. The sorting was a long process, but James cheered just as hard as the others for every kid who was sorted into Gryffindor. He noticed, affectionately, that Lily and her friends were sitting at the front end of the table so that they could make each new student feel welcome. Sirius made an indelicate noise.

"I wish the sorting didn't take so bloody long," he complained as the last student nearly ran to a spare place at the Hufflepuff table to loud applause. "Why can't we have the feast _before_ they sort… or something?"

James looked at his friend, who was slumped over the table with one arm propping up his head, with an appreciative grin and Remus shook his head with disgust.

"Trust you to think your stomach's more important than anything, Sirius," he retorted in a low voice as Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands for silence.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he boomed, his rich voice echoing off the walls and enchanted ceiling. James tried to pay attention to the headmaster as he gave the usual warnings and admonitions that made up his start of year speech, but his eyes continually strayed to Lily at the end of the table.

She was sitting up straight, her back turned slightly to him as she paid close attention to the headmaster's every word, and the small part of her face he could see had the rapt expression that James found so enthralling. _If only she would look at me like that,_ he thought with longing, and he no longer bothered to try to pay attention to Professor Dumbledore.

As the headmaster finished his speech, and invited everyone to enjoy their meals, Lily's head suddenly snapped around to look at him. Her eyes were disapproving as James struggled to conjure up a charming smile, but she had turned back to his sister, Hilary, before he managed to fully compose himself. Bitterly noting that Hilary had poked her tongue at him, proving his suspicion that it was she who'd told Lily he was staring, James turned his attention to the food that had appeared in front of him.

The other boys were talking rowdily, Sirius with a constantly over-full mouth, and James soon joined in, shrugging off another of Lily's death stares as sure proof that he was slowly getting to her.

When the feast finished and they had been dismissed to bed by a genial Dumbledore, James rose slowly and stretched.

"Come on, chums, our soft beds await us!" he said mockingly and the others stood, ironic grins plastered on their faces.

As he led the way to the doors, now carelessly pushing through the throngs of students, he watched Remus walk the other way. Being a Gryffindor prefect, his friend was expected to show the first years the way to the common room. This meant he'd be with Lily… _how lovely_.

James scrutinized his friend as he made it to where Lily was waiting for him with the frightened little first years. His stomach dropped as she flashed Remus a bright smile and gave him a friendly hug. _At least it better be just friendly,_ a voice growled in the back of his mind. Sirius punched him in the shoulder.

"Are we going or not?" he asked impatiently. "If we wanna play that prank on the first years, we'd better be quick – look Remus and Lily have already started leading them!"


End file.
